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OFFICE OF FACTS AND FIGURES.. 



W AR-TIME PA ID GO VERNMENT ADVERTI SING 
POLICY AND PRACTICE 


To: The Director 

From: Bureau of Intelligence 


x x 



Dated: February 25, 1942 





































































































































A 


RECOMMENDATIONS 

1. Government advertising, whether free or paid, is an integral 
part of government information program and policies and should "be controlled 
by the Committee on Wa? Information. As in other fields of information, 
however, the agency immediately concerned should be given the widest pos¬ 
sible latitude within the framework of settled information policy. 

2. No general over-all answer can be given to the question 
whether government paid advertising is sound policy. Each proposed goal 
and campaign should be considered on its own individual merits. 

3. A central government committee or agency on advertising should 
be formed. All offers of space and time and talent (even when limited to 
specified agencies or goals), and all requests for advertising space and time 
by the several departments and agencies of the government, should be sub¬ 
mitted to the central committee or agency which should make an appropriate 
allocation among the several departments and agencies. 

4. The actual preparation of copy and the details of the cam¬ 
paign should be worked out and handled wherever possible, with or without 
the help of independent advertising agencies, by the department or agency 
concerned, but ell copy and campaigns should be subject to the approval 
of the committee. 

5. The committee should have final authority to determine, in 
the event that there should not be sufficient donated space, whether and 
for what purpose additional space should be purchased. The recommendations 
of the agency most concerned in each case should be given the most careful 
consideration. 


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6. Government advertising when it is paid for, should in so far 
as possible, particularly in the case of the press, be paid for at a special 
government rate as nearly as possible to a cost basis with no profit to the 
media. The committee or agency should confer with representatives of the 
media in an effort to work out some fair cost basis for government adver¬ 
tising. This would tend to eliminate the direct objections to paid adver¬ 
tising : 

(a) of unfairness in selecting certain media; 

(b) of a government controlled press; 

(c) of choking off voluntary contributions of 
space and time; and 

(d) of expense. 

?. The selection of media should, in so far as possible, be 
handled by the advertising agency involved or by some other non-governmental 
organization on a sound advertising basis; thus further answering the 
objections (a) and (b) listed in paragraph 6 above. 


2 


B 

SUMMARY OF PROBLEM 


At the outset certsin assumptions may be made, as follows: 

/ 

I 

v 

Government advertising, whether free or paid, at least in certain 
fields, constitutes an effective supplement to other government publicity 
in support of the war effort. 

II 

Advertising space or time might either (a) be contributed free by 
the media; (b) be contributed by the commercial advertisers or other private 
groups for the use of the government (with or without credit lines); (c) 
be paid for by the government; or (d) be a combination of two or more of the 
above. It may be assumed that the media either cannot or will not contribute 
free of charge all of the space or time which the government (everything else 
being equal) might wish to use. It is also probable that commercial adver¬ 
tisers or other private groups would not fully satisfy the potential demand. 
The question will thus be presented whether the government should expand its 
present paid advertising program, as a supplement to such space or time as 
may be contributed. 

III 

And assuming that the government should embark upon such a paid 
advertising campaign, the question remains as to how such program should be 
handled. 

Government advertising might be regulated either (l) independently, 
through the several departments end agencies of the government; or (2) 
through a central coordinating agency which might (a) operate as a government 
advertising ef;oncy y determining the content of the programs, priorities, etc., 


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an over-all coordinat- 


and dealing directly with the media, or (b) act only of 
in# agency and obtain the services of one or more private advertising firms 
or a committee thereof (probably firms to be engaged for single campaigns 
only, no firm to be the exclusive agency for the government). As a modifi¬ 
cation of either (a) or (b) a separate non-governmental committee might be 
set up for the sole purpose of selecting the media. 

C 

ARGUMENTS PRO AND CON 

The principal arguments which have been or which might be advanced 
in favor of or against government paid advertising, are as follows: 

I 

The Effectiveness of Advertising 

Of the many arguments advanced in support of government advertising, 
perhaps the most fundamental is that advertising, as distinguished from the 
normal government publicity, permits constant repetition of themes, which 
repetition it is claimed is necessary in order effectively to influence public 
attitudes. In addition, it permits controlled and pictorial presentation. 

The degree of effectiveness of such advertising programs would, of course, 
depend among other things upon the objective of the particular campaign 
under consideration. Such objective may be the promotion of specific action 
by individuals such as recruiting, bond purchasing, etc., or more general 
in nature, the promotion of general morale, an understanding of war aims, 
and the like. They may also be merely informational in character, announcing 
regulations and dates for individual action , in some cases where penalties 
ere prescribed for failure to act, etc. 


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Advertising has proved of value in stimulating the sale of bonds, 
not only in this, but in other countries. Paid advertising has been regularly 
used by our War and Navy Departments for recruiting purposes, and has presum¬ 
ably justified the expense involved. Advertising campaigns have recently 
been conducted by the Australian government with reportedly successful re¬ 
sults in connection with eliciting cooperation of labor, in stimulating the 
consumption of surplus products, and in other fields. 

Some of the advertising themes used by the British government 
(presumably with successful results, as that government is continuing its 
advertising program), have concerned: 

- sale of bonds, 

- difficulties of evacuation from critical areas, 

- dangers of a rat plague, 

- explanation of delays in public services, 

- selling the idea of rationing, 

- suggesting alternative foods and methods of preparation, 

- campaign for better nutrition, 

- recruiting for national services, for factory work, 

and especially of women, 

- road safety in the dark, 

- saving of fuel, waste paper and materials. 

As a further possible indication of the value of government adver¬ 
tising, the United Kingdom has reportedly spent in excess of $10,000,000 for 
advertising in the last twenty months. And it is generally agreed that the 
Canadian government is the largest single advertiser in Canada today. 

On the other hand, it may be argued that an increase of direct 
advertising by the government is not necessary as a means of presenting the 
government’s point of view to the public. As distinguished from the commercial 
advertisers, the government has unique opportunities of reaching the public. 

The persuasive character of the President’s speeches are undoubtedly of prime 
importance in molding public opinion. Other government spokesmen are con¬ 
stantly addressing the nation on the various aspects of the national efiort. 


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It is argued that the public is actually eager, at least for the most pert, 
to adopt any suggestion that the President may make for the successful prose¬ 
cution of the war, and that consequently an ambitions program of paid adver¬ 
tising is hardly necessary under existing conditions. 

It is further argued that if great tasks of public education lie 
ahead during the coming months of war-time sacrifice and effort, this may 
De met successfully by improving methods of government publicity short of 
paid advertising. For instance, as one example, it has been suggested that 
a government column might be included in daily newspapers. 


II 

Financing of Advertising 

In the January 3, 1942 issue of Editor and Publishe r there appeared 
an editorial entitled "Government Advertising." It was stated that business 
papers have been asked by the Treasury Department to donate advertising space 
for the promotion of a payroll allotment plan for defence saving. Some papers 
have complied, others have not. 

This editorial argued that inasmuch as the government pays for 
everything else that it uses for the war effort, therefore "we must deny the 
right of the Treasury Department or any other branch of the government to 
submit an advertising plate to a. publisher with the request that he print it 
as a patriotic duty, free of charge." The argument is as follows: 

1. The laborer is worthy of his hire. 

2. Advertising space which produces no revenue to a 
publisher is a dead loss. 

3. A principle is involved: that advertising is as much 
an instrumentality of war as steel, or copper, or 
rubber, or cotton, and should be paid for as such. 

4. Advertising space is one of the most economical and 
useful tools that the government can use in prosecuting 
the war. 


6 




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5. 


We are at war for the principles of democracy. Those 
principles include operation of profitable capitalism 
that will enable employer and employee alike to share 
the benefits and cost of government. 

6. The practice of paid advertising "is being followed 
both in Canada and Great Britain in the prosecution 
of the war." 

7. The press is glad generously to donate a great amount 
of space to every patriotic cause, but should not be 
asked to carry the entire load. 

It is said that the case for paid government advertising in general 
is supported by a majority of American publishers. Presumably the proportion 
of editors would not be quite as high. The publishers' viewpoint may be re¬ 
garded as natural, in view of the expected loss of commercial advertising 
resulting from the war. Indeed it has been frankly suggested in certain 
quarters that government advertising should be undertaken as a subsidy to 
keep alive certain sections of the press which are suffering the most finan¬ 
cially. In this connection it should be borne in mind that a certain amount 
of good will advertising by commercial firms, whose products are now or will 
soon go off the market, may be expected to continue. 

Government advertising as a measure of relief or the question of 
war financing of the press as an important medium for the dissemination of 
information , cannot fairly be considered without giving attention to the 
extent and the application of the subsidy which the press, as a class, already 
enjoys through the second class mail privilege. In the fiscal year 1941 the 
-De-id subsidy for the press has been estimated at $83,835,363. 

It should be noted that the mail subsidy differs from an advertising 
subsidy among other ways in that it benefits all newspapers using the second 
class mail. In the case of advertising obviously a choice must be made between 
advertising in all newspapers or all media of a class, or all in a given area, 
or all the media in the country according to circulation, etc. 


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In reference to argument Ho. 3 above, it should be borne in mind 


that ordinarily the margin of profit, in steel, etc., is less than the margin 
of profit in advertising. Donation of advertising space by a newspaper would 
not in fact constitute a donation of the market value of such space unless 
as a result of paper rationing it meant that the paper gave un a commercial 
advertisement. In this general connection we are informed that in Australia, 
government advertising in the press (in spite of neper rationing) is done 
at a somewhat reduced rate. It should also be pointed out in this connection 
that under war conditions the government is obliged to take a very high per¬ 
centage of total output of industrial dents, whereas in advertising the pro¬ 
portion desired would, in no event, be more than a small percentage of the 
newspaper. 

One of the primary arguments against paid government advertising, 
from the government’s point of view, was stated by Secretary McAaoo in 1917, 
as follows: 

"The question of or id advertising presents a serious problem 
for the Government. The value of such Advertising cannot be 
doubted, and if the ooeration could be governed by the seme con¬ 
siderations as those which determine the action of private enter¬ 
prises, it would be much simplified. A private enterprise may 
advertise in a selected number of mediums most useful for its pur¬ 
pose without any limitation except its own desire or ability to 
pay. If the Government engages in such a. campaign, it must adver¬ 
tise in every newspaper end periodical in America without discrimina¬ 
tion. All must have eciuel treatment, and should have equal treatment. 

The Government must be thoroughly democratic and impartial in a 
matter of this sort. To make the advertisement thorough end effective, 
it should be done on a broad and liberal scale. The cost of such an 
undertaking would be very great and would exceed the appropriation 
which the Congress has thus far made available for the sale of Liberty 
Bonds." 

The implications in Secretary McAdo^’s statement that government 
advertising should be without discrimination in every newspaper and periodical 
are, of course, very much more serious in this country than they are in Great 


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- 




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Britain, Canada or Australia, where there are comparatively small numbers of 
newspapers and periodicals. For instance, in the United Kingdom there are 
at ]Dresent 142 daily newspapers as compared with over 1800 in the United 
States. 

Thus it appears that the government advertising in the most recent 
war loan ca.mpaign in Canada was carried in most, if not all, newspapers and 
other periodicals in that country. The Treasury Department reports that in 
its recent paid advertising campaign for the sale of "Baby Bonds" in period¬ 
icals it came under criticism or pressure from certain Quarters for not having 
given its advertising to certain newspapers. Tne experience in Australia 
also bears out this point to some extent, inasmuch as the government there 
found it expedient for political reasons to advertise in the many smell 
papers which were regarded as a poor media by the advertising experts. 

Another argument would be that paid government advertising, parti¬ 
cularly if it be in a selected group of papers only, might tend toward a 
government controlled press. It is argued that this objection would be some¬ 
what mitigated if the selection of media were made by an independent private 
advertising concern or a committee of experts not employed by the government. 

It might be further mitigated by a payment on a sound cost basis with no 
profit to the press. 

Another objection, depending largely on the nature of the advertising 
goals is that the public might resent the use of public funds to influence 
their behaviour. There are indications that such an objection has been 
raised in Canada. Our sources of information do not indicate any similar 
objection in Great Britain. 

It has also been suggested that paid advertising would tend to 
choke off donations of space. 


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There are also other considerations bearing on the question of 
payment which relate to the content of the advertising involved. For instance, 
it might be said that certain informational materiel, as for example t require¬ 
ments for alien registration, should be published free of charge as "news," 
and certain other informational materiel, as for example, air raid precautions, 
should be published free of charge as a matter of public duty. On the other 
hand, government classified advertising clearly should be paid for. 

Ill 

Centralizati o n of Contro l 

The experience in Australia would indicate that government adver¬ 
tising whether paid for or not, should be controlled by a central coordinating 
agency. In the first months of the war advertising was handled by the several 
departments and agencies of that government independently, which, according 
to reports, achieved no results except confusion. After several months of 
this, the entire advertising program of the government was centralized. 

Similar centralization was deemed necessary in the United States 
in World War I when a Division of Advertising was set up in the Creel 
Committee to coordinate all government advertising. 

And in Great Britain, while advertising is done under the name of 
the separate Ministries, the Ministry of Information apparently acts as an 
over-all coordinating agency. 


D 

PRESENT PRACTICE AND PLANS OF THE UNIT ED STAT ES 
GO VERNMENT DE PA RTMENTS AND AG E NCIES 


An inquiry has been directed to all of the departments and major 

l 

agencies of the government from which it appears that with the few exceptions 


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noted below, and excepting advertising for bids for contracts and other 
classified advertising of that nature, no paid advertising is under way or 
in contemplation. The exceptions referred to are as follows: 


The Navy Department has expended in recent months, primarily for 

recruting purposes, the sum of $1,265,703.45, as follows: 

(a) Expenditures by months for current fiscal year 
for paid newspaper advertising: 


00 


(c) 


August, 1941 
September, 1941 
October, 1941 
November, 1941 
December, 1941 
January, 1942 


$139,303.86 

172,850.79 

144,148.68 

188,072.94 

349,647.10 

226.671.85 


$1,220,695.22 


Expenditures by months for current fiscal 
year for paid magazine advertising: 


January, 1942 


$45,008.23 


45,008.23 


No expenditures have been made during the 
current fiscal year for poster or billboard 
advertising 


(d) No expenditures have been made during the current 
fiscal year for other types of paid advertising 


$1,265,703.45 

The major part of the advertising indicated in (a) was used in news¬ 
papers between July 8, 1941 end December 15, 1941. 

The magazine advertising, (b), while paid for in January, 1942, was 
actually used in December, 1941, and January, 1942. 

The Maritime Commission has undertaken tv/o advertising campaigns, 
one of $4,500 and the other of $15,000; one for recruiting officers and the 
other for recruiting able bodied seamen, both of which canroai "ns are said_to 
have achieved excellent results. 


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The War Denartment has a budget for paid advertising for recruiting 


purposes of $340,000 for the current fiscal year. Its advertising is handled 
by E. W. Ayer & Sons, Inc., and is edited and completely controlled by the 
recruiting service. 

This advertising is placed in daily newspapers in cities which have 
Army recruiting stations and populations of under 150,000; in Sunday news¬ 
papers in cities which have Army Recruiting Stations and populations of over 
150,000; and in weekly magazines of national apoeal and national circulation 
of more than 2,000,000 copies, viz., Saturday Evening Post, Liberty, Look, 
Life and Colliers. 


There is also a. certain amount of paid advertising by the Quarter¬ 
masters Corps, the Corns of Engineers, the Ordinance Department and the Signal 
Corns, for bids, for local supplies, advertising for lost animals or for the 
sale of salvage material, etc. 

In this connection, it is noted that the Quartermasters Corps, which 
for the first six months of the current fiscal year had spent billions, spent 
in that period only $21,692.49 in paid advertising. 

The Treasury Department ha.s conducted an extensive advertising 
campaign in connection with the sale of defense bonds and stamps. It has 
not, however, and does not contemplate, any paid advertising. Certain space 
is contributed free by the press end periodicals for carrying the "Minute Man" 
and other mats. A considerable amount of space has oeen contributed by 
commercial advertisers (usually containing credit lines for the commercial 
advertiser) , and the Treasury has put on elaborate radio programs under a 
plan whereby the talent is donated free end the time is purchased by com¬ 
mercial advertisers who receive "plugs" during the program. 


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The nearest that the Treasury has cone to paid advertising in con¬ 
nection with the sale of Def- nse Bonds hrs been in the production of films 
(such as the Donald Duck film), in which the Treasury nays the cost of pro-e¬ 
duction and arranges for the free distribution of the film to the motion 
picture houses. 

The Treasury did undertake certain paid advertising for its Baby 
Bond campaign in certain selected periodicals and received a number of com¬ 
plaints from Capitol Hill and elsewhere because certain newspapers had not 
been included. 

The Treasury does spend a small amount for classified advertisements 
for the procurement division advertising for bids. 

The Department of Agriculture currently puts out no paid adver¬ 
tising. There is, however, apparently some sentiment in the Department in 
favor of undertaking Paid advertising in the future in the farm press. 

The Department of Commerce has no paid advertising. However, 
there appeared in its weekly bulletin "Domestic Commerce" dated February 19th, 
a four page article advocating the use of paid advertising by our government. 
This article is reproduced hereunder as Appendix III. 

As already noted, none of the other departments and none of the 
agencies checked (OEM, OCD, Federal Loan Agency, Federal Security Agency and 
Federal Works Agency), do or plan any paid advertising. 


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II 

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APPENDIX I 


Present Fractice in Other Countries 

A - The United Kingdom 

"Experience of our Allies, Britain and the Dominions," says 
Editor and Publisher, "shows that a fine spirit of cooperation can be 
developed by a happy balance between paid advertising and free publi¬ 
city in presenting government information to the public." Research 
shows that in the United Kingdom the government has become one of its 
largest advertisers. 

Practically all of the governmental advertising in the Uni¬ 
ted Kingdom is done by the Ministries themselves. The Minister of 
Information handles the advertising for the various Ministries, with 
the exception of the Ministries of Food, Finance and Air, All space 
booking arrangements are coordinated through the Ministry of Informa¬ 
tion* 

An article by C. V. Charters of the Canadian Press Associ¬ 
ation in the January 24, 1942 issue of Editor and Pu b"ishe r states that 
Great Britain has spent upwards of $10,000,000 in advertising in t'e 
past twenty months. 

According to a report prepared by Lord & Thomas: 

"the British government placed and paid for 0.2f o^ all 

British newspaper advertising, in the first quarter of 

1940—and for 16,7 % of all British newspaper advert- si: 

in the third quarter of 1941* 

"Between these two figures—in the sharp increase 

from 0*2$ to 16.7/5—is. a story unique to democracy at 

war. 


14 











































to instruct, educate and uphold tiie people; to announce 
rationing, to advise on what foods to eat, to enlist men 
and women and savings, to explain, to clarify. The im¬ 
pact of this advertising can be seen in the still grow¬ 
ing use of advertising, by the Government, through the 
changing phases of war. 

"British Government advertising is done through nor¬ 
mal channels, by the same advertising agencies who con¬ 
tinue to prepare British commercial advertising, and who 
are similarly paid for it. The Government could, if it 
wanted to ’flourish a big stick.’ It could insist on 
every inch of space it is prepared to buy; could insist 
that all other advertising be thrown out to make room for 
its announcements. It doesn't. 

"One obvious effect of the increase in British 
Government advertising, in the third year of war, is that 
commercial advertising cannot buy as much space as it is 
willing to." 

But this is no doubt due primarily to the acute shortage of 
newsprint in England. 

Following is an analysis of government press expenditures in 
Groat Britain by typc3 of media (from June to November, 1941)!* 


National Dailies L 230,832 
London Evenings 74,097 
National Sundays 216,871 
Provincial Dailies 302,743 
Provincial Sundays 12,507 
Prov. & Sub. Weeklies 107,011 
Magazines 168,643 
Technical (Non Trade) 7,371 
Trade 5.867 


LI,125,942 


Following is an analysis of government press expenditures by 

campaigns in Great Britain (from January to September, l G 4l)s* 

L44,743 x 
4,859 xx 
340 x 
13,251 xx 
51,494 

Ireland 281 x 


* As reported by J. Walter Thompson 


British Railways 
General Post Office 
H.M. Stationery Office 
Mines- Department 
Ministry of Agriculture 
Ministry of Commerce N. 


15 













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I 









' 





















































Ministry of Food 239,640 
Ministry of Health 19,343 
Ministry of Home Security 50,123 
Ministry of Information 32,961 
Ministry of Labour 116,136 
Ministry of Supply 13,426 
Ministry of Transport 24,941 
N. Ireland Ministry of Agriculture 96 
N.A.A.F.I. ^ 6,276 
National Savings Committee 369,524 
Safety First Campaign 18,133 
Scottish Savings Committee 12,720 
Service Vacancies 342,324 
Ulster Savings Committee 606 
Board of Trade 40,924 
Ministry of Works 36,772 
Rat Campaign 1,613 
Scottish Ministry of Agriculture 1,372 
Ministry of War Transport 4,511 
N. Ireland Ministry of Labour 124 
N. Ireland Ministry of Public Security 143 
London Region Salvage Campaign 79 4 


61,497,975 


XXX 

X 


X 

X 

X 


X 


X 

X 

XXX 

X 


x No figures available for April and May 
xx No figures available for May 
xxx No figures available for April 


B - Canada 


Complete detailed information concerning paid advertising by 
the Canadian government is not available, but it appears that the govern¬ 
ment is probably the largest advertiser in Canada today. 

The government has been advertising chiefly through a corpora¬ 
tion composed of Canadian advertising agencies. Advertisements have 
been run on the following subjects: Victory loan, war savings stamps, 
recruiting, price control, sugar and rubber. They have been placed at 
the regular newspaper rates through the Finance Minister, the Wartime 
Trade and Price Board, the Minister of Ifunitions, etc. In addition to 
government paid advertising, private commercial firms have been publish¬ 
ing display advertising on behalf of war saving certificates and other 
subjects. 


16 


















































I 
















The following data shows the distribution of government adver¬ 
tising in Canada’s most recent war-loan campaign. Advertisements are 
currently run in the following media (virtually all of the Canadian papers 
and periodicals): 

91 Daily newspapers - 3 ads to run for 4 weeks 
739 Weeklies - 1 ad for 5 weeks (about one- 

half the number of lines) 

52 Trade papers 
10 Financial papers 
25 Magazines 

Several Metropolitan weekend papers 
30 Farm papers 
19 Labor papers 
7 Foreign language dailies 
36 Monthly and Weekly foreign language 
3 Soldiers’ publications, 

The monthly magazines are to carry one double page 
Spread plus one single ad. 

Comments by Canadians: In reply to criticism of the Canadian 
Government’s policy of using the tax payer’s money on advertising, the 
Minister of Finance stated: 

”It would be impossible to carry on the great financial 
campaigns we are carrying on without spending quite a 
lot of money on advertisements,” 

Mr, Ian H. MacDonald, General Manager, Bureau of Advertising, 

Canadian Daily Newspapers Association, states: 

”The Canadian Government’s policy of education of the 
people through advertising was a glowing testimonial 
to the recognition that advertising has become a vital 
instrument in the policy of tho country at war.” 

C - Australia 

(As Reported by S. B, Dobbs, until recently President of the 
Australian Association of Advertising Agents, Chairman of 
tho Australian War Effort Publicity Board, Member of the 
Radio War Service Committee and other groups assisting the 
Australian Government on Publicity Matters) 


17 










































On the outbreak of war, there was the usual confusion resulting 
from the patriotic but unorganized activities of large numbers of civilians. 
Many prominent people and most organizations offered their services to 
the government. All sorts of groups organized all kinds of committees for 
everything. Scores of commercial interests offered various government 
departments a mass of unrelated, unorganized, free advertising. Results 
were utter confusion, both inside and outside the government. The first 
constructive move was the appointment of a Director General of Information 
in the person of Sir Keith Murdoch, editor and publisher of a chain of 
leading newspapers. 

On June 21, 1940, a meeting was called of all advertising 
interests H for the purpose of receiving from Sir Keith Murdoch, Director 
of the Department of Information, announcements of new regulations cover¬ 
ing commercial advertising and broadcasting generally, the new policy of 
the Department of Information, and an appeal for the cooperation of all 
advertising men,” Two representatives from radio stations, national 
advertisers and advertising agencies formed the Radio War Service Com¬ 
mittee, and the President of the Federation of Commercial Broadcasting 
Stations was appointed as liaison officer between this group and the Do- 

i 

partmont of Information for the purpose of attempting to organize and pre¬ 
pare material for the free radio time donated by the Federation and various 
commercial interests. (Note: under the Act, the government had a right to 
demand from the commercial stations—which were licensed by the government 
but privately owned and operated—a maximum of 1 hour 30 minutes every 24 
hours for government use.) All this work was done on an honorary basis. The 


18 














4 

' 

• 













• 















' . ’ 

• 





", i - •* 



* 






























































































A.A.A.A. organized the War Effort Publicity Board within its own group 
for the preparation, on an honorary basis, of creative material required 
by the Radio War Service Committee. 

The War Effort Publicity Board then sent letters to all govern¬ 
ment departments, offering their services for the creation of publicity 
and advertising material. Work was done for Sir Donald Cameron, Director 
of R.A.A.F. Recruiting; Brigadier-General Lloyd, Director-General of A.I.F. 
Recruiting; and the War Loans Committee. 

As I functioned as liaison between the Board and these govern¬ 
ment departments, I was primarily concerned with the obtaining, organiz¬ 
ing and utilization of the free advertising facilities and services 
offered by the commercial interest to the government. Unfortunately, the 
results were far from satisfactory, due primarily to the following 
factors. 

1. Donations of free advertising had a tendency to place government 
departments and officials under moral obligation to the com¬ 
mercial interests who donated them. 

2. There was a good deal of political axe-grinding and favoritism. 

3. As donations were made, in many cases, to specific departments 
rather than to the government as a whole, the distribution of 
froo advertising could not be controlled or fairly allocated 

to the departments which needed this service. The semi-govern¬ 
mental charities, such as the Red Cross, Lord Mayor's Comfort 
Funds, etc., received assistance out of proportion to their 
importance, while the Department of Labor and Industry got nothing. 

4. As neither the government nor the War Effort Publicity Board 
could control the unrelated units of time, press space, posters, 
direct mail and other facilities donated, it was impossible to 
organize any well-planned continuous publicity campaign directed 
at the solution of specific problems. 

There are no figures available as to the amount of this free 
advertising which was donated. My records only reveal one instance in whioh 


19 
































































v;e were successful in making some attempt at organization and this was 
on the '’ T ar Savings Certificate Drive in New South Wales. In this case, 
the War Effort Publicity Board handled the entire job, and free adver¬ 
tising ranging from a one-hour radio program to a six-inch ad in a com¬ 
mercial house organ of a food company were donated. The total value of 
these donations was estimated at approximately ^32,000. 

On May 20, 1940, representatives of the Australian Association 
of National Advertisers formed an "Advertising Advisory Committee" for 
the purpose of "assisting the government in carrying out propaganda of 
a general nature." During the remainder of 1940 this group and the War 
Effort Publicity Board, realizing the need for organized government 
advertising and propaganda and having experienced the futility of at¬ 
tempting to achieve this through the utilization of free advertising 
facilities donated by commercial interests, urged the government to 
adopt a policy of using paid-advertising. Finally, in February 1941? the 
the new Director-General of the Department of Information, Senator Foil— 
who was also Minister of the Interior—appointed Ian. B. Hutcheson, for¬ 
merly Sales Director of Lover Brothers and previously Managing Director 
for twelve years of the largest advertising agency in Australia, to be 
the Controller of Government Advertising in the Department of Informa¬ 
tion, and adopted a policy of paid advertising for government propaganda. 

After considerable investigation, Mr. Hutcheson selected the 
War Effort Publicity Board as the group to handle the creation and plac¬ 
ing of all government advertising. was 


- finally approved ^ 



20 














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' V 







































































The first campaign undertaken by the War Effort Publicity 
Board was the long-delayed and rightly important ^100,000 campaign for 
the Ministry of Labor and Industry. TMg-eama-igfi -ie-ill u o t rat e d -and- 
describ e d in -the—at tach e d ■ phet e atatic prints, —Ncte-memorandum -ef—sup-- 
plementary- details attached. 

The second campaign launched through paid advertising was the 
War Loan in April, with an appropriation of ^26,000 to be spent in nine¬ 
teen days. 


The third campaign was the campaign for the Department of 
Commerce, with an appropriation of ^50,000. 

The fourth campaign was the ^100,000,000 War and Conversion 
Loan in October 1941* 

In addition to these major campaigns, additional advertising 
and publicity work was carried out for the State recruiting campaigns 
for the A.L.F. and the R.A.A.F., both in New South Wales and Victoria. 

Operating on this new basis made it possible for the govern¬ 
ment to eliminate most of the disadvantages experienced under the confus 
ing free publicity basis utilised previous to February 1941. The main 
advantages demonstrated were as follows: 

1« Far better advertising material was obtained from the experi¬ 
enced commercial e^rperts than had over been obtained from the 
individual government departments. 

2. Master contracts signed by the Controller of Advertising with 
all the major media resulted in lower rates than any individ¬ 
ual government department had been able to obtain previously. 
(The Commonwealth Bank for years had been using paid adver¬ 
tising prepared by their own department.) 

3o A major portion of the personal axe-grinding by individual 
commercial interests, the political favoritism in government 
departments, and the unfairness and injustice of the alloca¬ 
tion of free facilities to ’’popular" government departments 
was eliminated. 


21 




























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4. Under the War Effort Publicity Board, a tremendous reserve 
of creative advertising and production personnel which time 
and again, as instanced by the first War Loan, demonstrated 
its ability to carry sudden peak loads that could not pos¬ 
sibly have been carried by an advertising group in a govern¬ 
ment department or even a creative group in a government 
department or even a creative group in the Department of 
Information itself. 

5® The Board made it possible for the government to have its 
advertising programs based solely on the recommendations of 
trained experts whose years of knowledge and experience in 
the use of all media resulted in the most effective possible 
use of the appropriations® 

6® Most important of all, the funnelling of all government ad¬ 
vertising through the office of the Controller of Advertising 
and the Department of Information, end its handling and 
placement by the War Effort Publicity Board, made it possible 
for the government to coordinate and control the advertising 
and propaganda activities of all the departments. 

There were some disadvantages which had not existed under the 
free system but they were relatively unimportant and the all-over results 
more than compensated for these disadvantages. The main disadvantage ex¬ 
perienced was that arrangements under the free system meant that only 
those commercial groups—particularly newspapers—who were truly unselfish 
and patriotic would donate free space, while now large groups of small 
unimportant newspapers brought political pressure to bear to get some of 
the government advertising being paid for. 

Even in this case, it was only the small country newspapers 
which, although completely unimportant from a strictly advertising cover¬ 
age standpoint, would have some voice politically. This condition was 
peculiar to Australia in that the country newspapers were tightly organ¬ 
ized into strong state groups and, as the government in power consisted 
of the United Australian Party and the Australian Country Party, several 


22 


















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of these groups of country papers attempted to bring political pressure 
to bear on the Controller to use their publications more extensively. 
However, the government was in a strong position as it could pass the re¬ 
sponsibility for the selection of media back to the advertising agencies 
who were handling the advertising for the government and, in this way, 
divorce the activities of the Controller from the field of political 
favoritism. 


A further disadvantage, which was quite unimportant as far as 


the government was concerned, caused' us on the War Effort Publicity some 
difficulty. Under the system of honorary service, only a relatively 
small number of advertising agencies worked with the War Effort Publicity 
Board. 7/hen the advertising was paid for, all the advertising agencies 
wanted a share of the business and the Board was under pressure to share 
the work to be done among a larger number of agencies than was justified 
in most instances. However, the system used by the Board in the alloca¬ 
tion and payment for work was sufficiently fair and the size of the ap- 
propriations over a twelve-month period sufficiently large to allow the 
Board to spread the work around among most agencies over any consider¬ 
able period of time. (-See-tho-Repert-from~t>he-S ecr e ta r y -,-—att ach e d; 



It is interesting to note in passing that cabled advices from 


Australia indicate that, in spite of the change in government which has 
talien place since September 1941j Mr. Hutcheson is still Controller of 
Advertising and the new government is continuing under the policies inau¬ 
gurated under the Menzies Government, although there have been three 
changes in the office of Director-General of Information since that time. 


23 





















I wish to especially emphasise the fact that only because the 
government appointed a highly able and capable man as Controller of govern-- 
ment advertising—only because they gave him complete authority in his 
field—only because they backed him up and forced all 'government depart¬ 
ments to use the Department of Information for their advertising activities— 
was it possible to achieve these results. 


24 



























































APPENDIX II 


U. S. Gov e rnment Practice During 7 ~orid War I 

Sources: Report of Creel Committee and Minutes of House Committee on 
_ Appropriations, etc. __ 

No direct evidence has been found of paid advertising by any 
government agency during Norib War I. It cannot be asserted positively, 
however, that no advertising was purchased by any government agency, 
due to the inaccessibility of various war-time records. But it appears 
that, in any event, funds if spent were not substantial. 

The government on the other hand did put out considerable 
advertising, space for which was contributed free. 

The principal fields of advertising were the Red Cross, the 
War Department, the Shipping Board, the Liberty Loans and the War Saving 
Campaign, Department of Agriculture, Department of Labor, National De¬ 
fense Fuel Commission, the United War WorL Drive, Food Commission, and 
Training Camp Activities. 

To handle the advertising program a Division of Advertising 
was set up in the Creel Committee by Executive Order. Over eight hun¬ 
dred publishers of monthly and weekly periodicals contributed space to 
the government worth (at the commercial rate) 1159,275 per month, for 
the duration of the war; which space was being increased monthly until 
the armistice terminated the arrangement. In addition advertisers of 
merchandise purchased 1340,981 worth of space in various nationally 
circulated periodicals and turned the space over to the Division of 
Advertising to be used for government purposes (presumably with credit 
line for the advertiser). Figuring on a yearly base the donation ol 
space only, amounted to approximately $2,250,000. Of this only about 
$1,594,000 was used, owing to the cessation of activities. 


25 





































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. 




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Tht following is a summary of all space with which the 
Division of Advertising dealt (according to the final report of the 
Division fc>f Advertising), all contributed by advertisers and publishers 
for the winning of the war: 



Insertions 

Circulation 

Amount 

General Magazines 

1512 

351,409,159 

3895,108.29 

Farm Papers 

1443 

134,279,895 

361,221.34 

Trade & Misc.Publications 

4333 

41,377,554 

233,102.47 

House Organs 

831 

14,386,475 

52,727.50 

Outdoor Display 

7 


8 , 550.00 

Newspapers 

653 

6 , 272,636 

17 , 567.60 

College Papers 

377 

1,107,429 

12 , 337.01 

Book Jackets 

116 


'est) 7 , 700.00 

Theatre Curtains 

75 


1 , 500.00 

Total 

9367 

548,833,148 

1)1,594,814.71 


Advertising not included in the above figures was in out-door 
poster advertising, local newspapers, and window displays; the last men¬ 
tioned being integrated with the government advertising orogram by the 
International Association of Display Lien. 

The Division of Advertising of the Creel Committee acted as an 
advertising agent or middleman between the several departments of the 
government and those contributing advertising space, and undertook the task 
of preparing the advertising material and laying out the campaigns. 

Artist and advertising executives contributed their time free of 
charge to the Division. 

The final report of the Division of Advertising set forth the 

following advantages winch it thought that the government advertising 

program had during World ’ : ar I over ordinary news publicity: 

First, it is controlled in wording, which makes it 
exact and authoritative 

Second, it is controlled in appearance, which enables 
the government to insure its readability, and thereby 
its penetration. 

Third, it makes possible the repetition of the lesson 
until it is learned—probably the most important element 
of advertising and the leading reason for its success. 

26 















































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APPENDIX III 

Department of Commerce Bulletin "Domestic Commerce" February 19, 1942 

ADVERTISING PUTS PUNCH INTO BRITAIN’S WAR EFFORT 
We Can Profit From Her Experience 

The Unitec States is an amateur at modern war, although fairly 
rapidly becoming professionally proficient at it. So was our Ally, 

Great Britain, an amateur when the storm first broke over her shores. 

She had to learn how by trial and error. 

Neither nation had, like our enemies, made war the chief 
national industry. Neither of us had jumped on weak opponents for 
specious reasons in order to try out our new weapons in a practical way, 
or to season troops in actual combat. 

A Catastrophic Awakening 

The peoples of both nations were slow to waken to the crisis 
headed their way. England had to have Dunkirk. We had to have Pearl 
Harbor to wake us up. 

But waking up is not enough when a fire, which threatens all 
that you have and all that you are, has got a head start while you slept. 

In those confused moments between first consciousness of trouble and 
alert wide-awakeness, it is difficult for the awakening to see first 
things first, to get to the heart of their problem quickly and clearly. 

Experience of Others Valuable 

In such a time, as now, it is fortunate to be able to turn to 
the records of action in similar circumstances -- to avoid the errors and 
to make use of the successes. Fortunate to be able to use the hard-learned 


27 








experience of others instead of having to solve all the problems by the 

slow, costly, painful method of trial and error. 

hith enemy bombers buzzing overhead, and with enemy bombs 
splashing all over the land, it would seem that the citizens of a tight 

little island like Great Britain would not need to be sold the fact 

that they were very much in a war. Untrained observers of human reaction 

might think that a few stories in the papers now and then about the need 

♦ 

of saving food, of donating or selling binoculars to the fighting services, 
and other wartime needs, would be sufficient to cause the people to 
respond properly. 

Aversion to Change 

The British Government knew better, or learned better quickly. 

It employed professional practitioners of the art of getting ideas into 
the minds of men. In other words, they turned the job over to advertising 
agencies, just as they turned other production jobs -- tank, airplane, 
and other equipment -- over to professional manufacturers. 

Advertising experts are realists about mankind. They know, 
from long, hard experience, that the so-called human race resists change 
every time it see-s change approaching. They have learned that the 
individual will persist in following his old habits to the last ditch. 

They realize that the human mind resists, with unbelievable defensive 
power, the entrance of a new idea. Their experience has taught them the 
necessity of constant repetition in making men's minds aware of anything, 
in persuading men to act. 


28 










Government Advertising Leads in England 


Late reports indicate that the Government of Great Britain is 
now by far the largest advertiser in that country, accounting for approx¬ 
imately 17 per cent of all the advertising expenditure there. A similar 
proportion of last year’s advertising in the United States would mean a 
fund of approximately $340,000,100 for advertising essential war needs. 

Allowance must be made for the fact that the current advertising 
of the British Government in percentage of all British advertising is 
based on a much lower total of advertising expenditure than England 
know in peaceful days. Perhaps the proper proportion of peacetime 
expenditure is only a quarter of the above. However, discussion of that 
is left for a future article. 


Background Study 

Now, we are interested only in why England puts its mental 
side of the productive war effort in the hands of professionals, and how 
they did it. The information which follows is taken from direct reports 

to the Department of Commerce, the British war-advertising exhibit of 

0 

the J. "'alter Thompson Co., and the book, "Modern Publicity in T7ar, M 
published by the Studio Publications, of London and New York. The 
foreword of this book apoligizes for its belated appearance. 

(The copy, reviewed in our pages a short time ago, was one from 
the second edition. The reason, we quote: "YTithin thirty-six hours of 
the delivery of the first edition to the binders, it was completely 
destroyed by enemy action." England carries on -- we must.—Ed.) 


29 



















































































































Why Fear Propaganda J 

England did not forget entirely the lessons learned in the first 
World War. It entered this war with a Ministry of Information already in 
existence. How active it has boon in coordinating all Government activi¬ 
ties has not been disclosed. Yet the record indicates that it proceeded 
to analyze the problems confronting the entire Government and to delegate 
specific problems to the Government agency most interested in the specific 


phase. 


Furthermore, Great Britain has not been afraid of the word 


"propaganda.” Being sensible folk, they have looked in their dictionaries 
and have read that propaganda is: (a) Any organization for spreading a 
particular doctrine or a system of principles; (b) the doctrine or prin¬ 
ciples thus propagated; (c) the scheme or plsn for so doing. Having 
"two separate sides to their heads," they know full well that those who 
are customarily decrying propaganda as an evil, are nor; ly using their 
own brand of propaganda to propagate their own personal ideas of what is 
right. 

Governments Also Have Ideas to Sell 


They are quite frank in mentioning government propaganda, knowing 
that governments have ideas and views to sell, just as any other group often 
has such merchandise. They seem to rely on the fact that, if the aims 
sou. ht by the propaganda turn out to be the wrong objectives, the people 
will very promptly find that out and insist upon voting lor a new brand 
of ideas. 


30 






























































































So they are not afraid to print: "The creators and co¬ 
ordinators of Government propaganda have an array of problems to 
solve, and a unique abundance of methods for solving them. They can 
make their plans upon a national scale, and use, as an imposing team, 
the press, the poster . . . leaflets and booklets (with the State as 
a mailing agent) . . . microphones, and films, shot with the special 
facilities the State alone can sanction." Moreover, their campaigns 
can be started off and invigorated at intervals by pronouncements by 
Cabinet Ministers — pronouncements that are "news." 

British vs . Totalitarian Propaganda 
"The Government, through its various Ministries, has been 
disseminating propaganda to the public since the early days of the war. 
Unlike the admonitions, threats, boasts and hysterical appeals that 
froth and foam from totalitarian propaganda departments, official pro¬ 
paganda for home consumption in Britain has been sober, restrained and 
well planned. The basic principle of German and Italian propaganda, 
directed to their own peoples and to the peoples of the occupied coun¬ 
tries, was disclosed by a German broadcaster from Brussels who stated 
that 'Fear of the policeman is the beginning of virtue.' ... Mo 
single piece of propaganda issued to the British public by the Govern- 
ment has contained a threat. There have been suggestions, not bleak 
instructions, often conveyed with real human understanding . . . 
people . . . have been charged with telling the public about the war 
itself, and giving them not only facts, but a sensible basis for judgment 
about what was happening ..." 


31 








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. 

1 












.. 


















. 

































Pr ofessio nal Methods Applied 

That is true propaganda. Spreading the doctrine of what England 
is fighting for, "giving a sensible basis for judgment about what was 
happening." Press, radio, direct-mail, poster, and outdoor advertising 
'.'as concentrated on the hard job of conveying to the hard-headed public 
chc facts which the public needed to know, and "sensible reasons for 
judgment." This is "reason why" advertising at its best. Pub why this 
great density of effort? Fhy this use of every medium for reaching the 
public? dry were those me diunis used with continuity? 1 ,Tiy were all the 
facets of every fact exposed to the bright white light of continuing 
publicity? 

All this was done because the British Government realized that 
professional marketing men know that certain newspapers reached a certain 
definite audience; that a certain number of people passed and repassed the 
sites of certain outdoor displays, or sat .chore they could see certain 


posters in a given subway car. 


know that the listener to a radio 


could not be there at a single moment when the Government had a message 
for him, but that he might be listening to his radio at any time during 


the day or night. So England used the power of its trained marketing 
men to decide upon the ways and moans of using the various mediums for 
reaching the minds of the English people most efficiently. 


Leadership -- hot Dictatorship 


of total 
must be. 


The British Government knov. that its people had 
’?ar. They knew that any people, devoted to traue 
could not quickly realize the tremendous efforts 


no conception 
as any democracy 


which they must 


32 
















































































H1 

























exurt, tne huge burdens which they must bear, the abrupt and abysmal changes 
m their way of living which they had to accept. So England mobilized its 
best talent in interpreting to the average man what it meant to him to 
make these exertions, carry those burdens, accept these changes. 

Empire war aims were handled as a separate, distinct campaign, 
through every possible medium. The National Savings Campaign was carried 
on by a National Savings Committee, using every angle of publicity and 
advertising. Leadership, not dictatorship, was used to float loans of 
tremendous size. This National Savings Committee was a special depart¬ 
ment of the Ministry of Information. 


Campaigns by Specialized Groups 

The Food Campaign was conducted by the ministry of Food; a Road 
Safety Campaign during blackouts was directed by the Ministry of Transport; 
a campaign on use of the mails, by the General Fost Office; a fuel campaign, 
by the Mines Department of the Board of Trade; a Salvage Campaign, by the 
Ministry of Supply. At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Fisheries ran a steady stream of appeals on plowing by day and night -- 
on gardening. 

The Ministry of Health and Home Security directed its advertise¬ 
ments at the problems, and. their solutions, of home owners; the Ministry 
of Supply asked for binoculars, iron and steel scrap. The R.A.F. adver¬ 
tised for recruits through the Air Ministry Information Bureau; while the 
Ministry of Health asked country folk to look after evacuated children. 


33 





















































































































































The Ministry of Food paid for space to ask housewives to read 
and use the wartime cookery features appearing in newspapers and magazines, 
to listen to broc.dcc.sts about buying, preparing, and cooking food, to 
attend local demonstrations of cookery and meal planning. 

All Efforts Unified 

"noting again from "Modern Publicity in Per," "The special 
departments at the Ministry of Information constitute what may be 
described as a large advertising department acting for the various 
Ministries concerned. 

"These Ministries ;re in the position of directors of affilated 
companies each with its special problems which are passed to a central 
advertising department. The Ministry of Information employs the services 
of various advertising agencies, in precisely the same way as would the 
advertising department of a commercial concern. The result is collabora¬ 
tion between three sets of experts with technical and specialized know¬ 
ledge. They produce the type of campaign suitable for the particular 
message to be conveyed to the public. 

"In setting up and organizing these publicity departments the 
Ministry of Information was faced with the problem of applying the 
technique of persuasion to a number of novel and perplexing conditions, 
for which no precedent existed. It had to launch appeals to the public 
during an abnormal period; it had to sell ideas to the public just as 
vigorously as any commercial organization with goods or services to put 
over; but it had to retain throughout an air of authority and restraint 
as befitted a government department, without impoverishing the vigour of 
its appeal. 


34 






















































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. 

> 


























. 










. 



































"By collaborating in turn with a number of advertising 


agencies it secured the services of expert practitioners in persuasion; 
but the direction of policy was still under official control. The 
results have been, on the whole, remarkably forcible. The public has 
been ’informed’ (which is, one would suppose, the function of a Ministry 
of Information) and their ideas have been kept bright; pessimism has 
been combated; vital guidance, essential cautions, have been relayed 
from official quarters to every household, and there has been as it were, 
a running commentary upon topical events, from rationing to intensified 
bombing, that has maintained a. note of cheerfulness, without obtruding 
a note of schoolmarmishness, which might easily have marred the whole 
effect of various campaigns." 

Coiiuiion Understandin g Our National Need 
TJe have quoted at length from this resume of English 
experience in the most important field of war, the minds of men, because 
it seems necessary that similar propaganda is vitally needed here. This 
may be a war of production. A machine never surrenders. It just quits 
operating. Men surrender, quit before the ultimate victory, because 
their minds falter, their wills fail, before the machines which they 
operate are destroyed. 


35 



















































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